CrimNet

5 June 2024

The Autumn 2024 edition of Bar News delves into all things technology-related and features Sydney Institute of Criminology members Dr Allan McCay and Dr Carolyn McKay.

Title: It’s time for the Australian Law Reform Commission to look at neurotechnology

Author: Dr. Allan McCay

At the end of February 2024, the Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Lorraine Finlay, announced that the Commission’s background report on neurotechnology is to be published in March.1 This news came on the back of global media coverage of Elon Musk’s company Neuralink’s first implantation of a brain–computer interface (a form of neurotechnology) into a human being, which has contributed to a nascent awareness of neurotechnology in the public sphere...

Read more here.

Title: Virtual criminal courts and remote advocacy

Author: Dr Carolyn McKay

How does the increasing use of audiovisual links (‘AVL’) impact advocacy? Given the developing significance of AVL and special measures in criminal courts, such as the use of pre-recorded out-of-court statements and remote witness suites, this article provides an overview of new empirical data regarding how advocacy is transformed by remote modes...

Read more here. 

Current Issues in Criminal Justice (CICJ) provides detailed analysis of national and international issues by a range of outstanding contributors. It includes contemporary comments, with discussion at the cutting edge of the crime and justice debate, as well as reviews of recently released books.

CICJ accepts submissions on a rolling basis.

Editor: Professor Colin King, member of the Sydney Institute of Criminology

You can access current (Volume 36, 2024) and previous issues of Current Issues in Criminal Justice here.

If you have a book suitable for review by CICJ, please email the books editor, Celine Van Golde at celine.vangolde@sydney.edu.au 

For more updates, follow CICJ on X here.

Workshop: The Future of the Criminal Law

In-person event

Date: Friday 28 June 2024

Venue: The University of Sydney, Level 1, Law Lounge, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown

In the current moment, it is little exaggeration to say the criminal law, and criminal justice more broadly, is in crisis. In liberal legal systems such as that of NSW and other Australian jurisdictions, the idea of a minimalist criminal law (which maximises liberty for individuals) remains a cornerstone principle, but criminal offences have likely never been so numerous. At the same time, questions about the efficacy of our laws loom large, with issues such as gender-based violence, terrorism, and bullying presenting as ‘wicked problems’ that seem to both demand and resist solution through the criminal law. In addition, moral pluralism belies easy assumptions about the extent of social support for criminal laws, and the role of the criminal law in perpetuating disadvantage for First Nations peoples makes plain its central place in the long shadow of colonialism. In the context of criminal justice, concerns about the operation of the law in relation to policing of young people and those with mental illnesses, the purpose and contours of bail laws, prosecutorial independence, and coordination between states and territories deepen and expand these problems.

Against this background, what is the future of the criminal law? Given the fracturing that has occurred across the criminal law field – from orthodox offences and defences to novel constructions with deeming provisions and reverse burdens – does criminal law remain a coherent field? If not, what do multiple domains of doctrine share, and what limits the scope of the laws? With victim/survivors and advocates and others telling us what doesn’t work, is it possible that the criminal law of the future will be reconstructed, and more circumscribed, than it is at present?

This workshop invites participants to engage in a wide-ranging discussion about the future of the criminal law. The workshop will be structured around three sets of discussions:

Technology and Justice (Chair: Dr Carolyn McKay): Digitalization has been described as the defining characteristic of 21st century society and its processes are radically transforming the criminal justice system. How do scholars, activists and others respond empirically, conceptually and epistemologically to the role of digital technologies in criminality, control, courts and punishment?

Legal Convergence (Chair: Professor Thomas Crofts): It is increasingly common for jurisdictions to compare and draw on approaches in other jurisdictions when reforming criminal law and criminal law practices. What are the challenges and possibilities of borrowing from the criminal law of other jurisdictions? What does this mean for the future of criminal law? Will this lead to convergence of criminal law on shared social issues?

Legitimacy in Decision-Making and Knowledge Coordination (Chair: Professor Arlie Loughnan): Massive growth in expert knowledges relevant to criminal law decision-making challenges every aspect of criminal law, from law reform, to responsibility attribution and evaluation and adjudication in particular cases. How is the criminal law responding to changes in knowledge conditions? What do they mean for authority and coherence of criminal law?

Please register here.

PhD SCHOLARSHIP, CRIMINOLOGY, DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

Applications close: 5pm, Monday 17 June 2024 

The project is titled ‘Analysing and disrupting outlaw motorcycle gangs in Australia: A mixed-methods network study’ and has been funded by the Australian Research Council under the Discovery Project scheme. Crimes committed by Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMCGs) cause significant social and economic harm for Australian and international communities. However, little is currently known about co-offending by members of OMCGs. This project will shed light on co-offending within and between OMCG clubs, document changes over time, and develop more effective policies and practices to disrupt OMCG crime. The project will contribute to making Australia safer from the harms of criminal activities undertaken by OMCGs and position Australia as a global leader in the field of criminal networks and methodologies to prevent and disrupt related crime.

More details here or contact Prof David Bright: David.bright@deakin.edu.au

Special Issue Open Call for Papers: Current Issues in Criminal Justice (CICJ)

Title: The Project of Police Accountability: A Chimera?

Abstract deadline: 30 June 2024

Guest editors and contact details:

Dr Pascale Chifflet at p.chifflet@latrobe.edu.au 

Dr Laura Griffin at l.griffin@latrobe.edu.au

Dr Meribah Rose at meribah.rose@latrobe.edu.au

Scope: Longstanding calls for change to the police oversight framework in Australia have highlighted the limitations of existing institutions and mechanisms. Acknowledging that police-related harms are inherently tied to Australia’s colonial context, this special issue seeks to examine whether it is in fact possible to achieve accountability through the reformation of legal structures, or whether accountability will only emerge from more fundamental structural and socio-political change.

We welcome submissions on a range of topics related to police accountability, including on the operation of various legal and regulatory mechanisms as well as abolitionist-informed responses.

We are keen to present a diverse range of perspectives on the issue and particularly welcome submissions from First Nations contributors. We encourage academics, PhD students and practitioners to contribute. Please feel free to reach out to the guest editors if you would like to discuss your ideas.

Timeline

• Abstracts (400 words maximum) should be submitted to the special issue editors by 30 June 2024

• The decision on accepted abstracts will be made by 15 July 2024

• Full papers are to be submitted to the editorial team by 4 October 2024

• Publication is expected in mid-2025.

Instructions for authors CICJ publishes:

1. full-length articles (8,000 words limit, including references),

2. contemporary comments (shorter articles on ‘cutting issues’, approx. 4,000-5,000 words including references), and

3. book reviews.

AIC-HEUNI Webinar Series: The role of technology in the facilitation of child sexual exploitation

Speakers:
Samantha Lyneham,  Michael John Cahill, Dr Timothy Cubitt

The AIC is pleased to invite you to a webinar co-hosted by the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI) and the Australian institute of Criminology (AIC) that explores sexual exploitation of children in Australia, and the role of technology in the facilitation of child sexual exploitation on Tuesday 18th June 2024 9.00-10.30 am (UTC+3, Helsinki time) and 4.00-5.30 pm (UTC+10, Canberra time).

There is growing evidence that child sex offenders use social media and dating platforms not only to target potential child victims, but also to find adults or young people who will facilitate the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Further, online domains can be used by perpetrators arrange offending, share information, and engage with one another.

This webinar presents recent research by the AIC examining:

•the prevalence and nature of requests to facilitate child sexual exploitation,

•the risk factors for mobile dating app/website users receiving requests to facilitate child sexual exploitation,

•mobile dating app/website users’ experiences with receiving sexually exploitative requests from other users when they were under the age of 18,

•how online domains allow perpetrators to engage with one another, and to leverage technology to support their offending.

Please register here.

Submissions for the 2024 Criminology Research Grants (CRG) are now open 

The Australian Institute of Criminology encourages applications from organisations or collaborative teams with a demonstrated capacity to deliver high quality criminological research outcomes. 

Applications will be assessed against the criteria prescribed in the approach to market advertised on AusTender. The following criteria may be considered when evaluating responses: 

•public policy relevance 

•the extent to which the proposed research will have practical application and contribute to the understanding, prevention or correction of criminal behaviour or otherwise support the objectives of Australian criminal justice systems 

•the likelihood of the proposed research making a substantial and original contribution to criminological knowledge 

•the cost effectiveness of the research 

•the soundness of the design and methodology, and the feasibility of the research 

•the competence and availability of the applicants(s) or principal investigators(s) to undertake the proposed research 

•ethics committee approval, where appropriate 

•availability of data, where required 

•the extent of funding or in-kind support obtained from relevant agencies. 

For more information or to make a submission please visit the  Aus Tender website. 

Important date - Applications close at 2:00 pm (ACT Local Time) on 11 July 2024. 

Please direct enquiries to the CRG Administrator on 02 6268 7450, 0406 109 885 or email crg@aic.gov.au . 

Legal experts call for more research on AI law

 Professor Simon Bronitt, Dean, Sydney Law School.

Read here 

Australian Institute of Criminology

The Australian Institute of Criminology’s Indigenous Justice Research Program has released two reports on Indigenous contact with the criminal justice system. The research was led by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales and used the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey to examine the factors that increase and decrease the risk of arrest.

Factors found to increase the risk of arrest among Indigenous Australians were illicit drug and alcohol use, high levels of psychological distress and being a member of the stolen generation. Protective factors included school completion, having a permanent home and having an above average income.

The strongest risk factor for Indigenous arrest was the use of illicit drugs and alcohol over the preceding 12 months, which increased the marginal risk of arrest by 14 percentage points.

The strongest protective factor was school completion, which reduced the risk of arrest by 7.9 percentage points.

Please read here.

New research examines sexual violence victimisation among people with disability on dating platforms

The Australian Institute of Criminology has released new research examining the prevalence and nature of dating app facilitated sexual violence among users with a disability, drawing on a survey of Australian dating app users.

The findings show that 88% of the dating app users surveyed who had a disability had experienced some form of dating app facilitated sexual violence.

Dating app users with a disability were significantly more likely to have experienced any and all forms of dating app facilitated sexual violence than users without a disability.

Women, First Nations users and users who identified as LGBTQIA+ who reported having a disability were particularly likely to have been victimised.

Please read here.

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